Commuters call for BRT capacity bump as winter approaches

AMMAN — The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is one of Amman’s most popular means of public transportation. In light of the upcoming winter, however, the Greater Amman Municipality has been urged by commuters to introduce additional capacity to the line, in order to reduce waiting times in poor weather. 

Mayor of Amman Yousef Shawarbeh said that during October, around 1,400,000 individuals took trips on public buses. Of these, “755,000 used the BRT”. 

The BRT lines run daily from 6am to 10pm during workdays, while on Friday operating hours are limited to between 9am and 8pm.  

Commuters using the service say it saves them money, effort as well as time, though some say overcrowding on buses and long wait times to find a space during peak hours can be an issue. 

Yamen, a student at the University of Jordan, uses the bus on a daily basis. 

He told The Jordan Times that despite owning a car, he prefers “to take the bus to university to save myself the headache of driving and parking”. 

Yamen added that the BRT is a very convenient means of getting around in Amman, and that he doesn’t “have any complaints about [his] daily experience with BRT”. 

Meanwhile, Um Salma, who lives near the Fifth Circle in Amman but works downtown, said that she too uses the bus to get to work every day.  

“I rarely commute by car. Since I started using the BRT, I’ve saved over JD60 per month on gas,” Um Salma added. 

Um Salma described driving in Amman as a stressful ordeal, so BRT has been a welcome alternative that entails far less stress in the morning.

“The trip to work would take me over 45 minutes of stressful driving. With BRT though, I no longer need to worry about driving; it takes less than 30 minutes to get to work,” said Um Salma.

Some social media users suggested adding night services to the rapid transit line.

“The last BRT ride should depart at 11pm to serve people working night shifts at restaurants and malls,” said user Abdel Salam Basareyat. 

Other social media users complained of how often buses are packed full of people, meaning that many commuters have to wait a long time until they find a spare place on the bus. 

Ayman Refai commented that he once had to wait 40 minutes for a bus with an empty place. 

Another BRT user, Yousef Faisal, claimed that this issue can only be resolved if additional capacity is added to the line — especially at peak times. 

Omar Abdel Rahman also commented on social media about the matter, concurring that the public transport authority should add new buses to the service before the winter weather begins.